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"Two days in Binh Duong? That industrial place?" My friends were skeptical when I said I’d spent that much time in the southern province neighboring Ho Chi Minh City.

Well, it does have well-known tourism spots as well, like the Ba Thien Hau Pagoda and the Dai Nam theme park, but I was after other “prey.” And believe it or not, I felt the trip was too short, given the number of places in the province worth discovering.

My first stop was at the Hoi Khanh Pagoda in Thu Dau Mot Town. Originally built in 1741, the pagoda was destroyed by French troops in 1860. It was reconstructed by a monk named Chanh Dac in 1868.

The Caravelle Hotel in Ho Chi Minh City will hold a chocolate promotion next month with a selection of chocolate cakes that will satisfy the most diehard chocoholic.

During the promotion from April 9 to 22, the à la carte menu in the Caravelle’s Lobby Lounge will include delights like Black Forest Sacher, chocolate truffle tart and pistachio-flavored chocolate cake. Besides, there will be unusual treats like white chocolate, pistachio and apricot slice, which is made with a white chocolate pistachio mousse, apricot jelly and hazelnut-almond sponge, and orange-spiced sweet bitter chocolate pie, which has a caramelized puff pastry and shortbread crust and an orange liqueur-spiced dark chocolate emulsion.

It is said that the so-called Saigon “sitting-plump” cafés have been opened some years ago. Such kind of tasting coffee has attracted a lot of people, including foreign ones at all ages.

The answer for questions, such as “why do not you have a coffee in an air-conditioned café?” or “why do you not choose a nice café with wonderful views?”, is always smiles because coffee-lovers are keen on that. Therefore, the so-called Saigon “sitting-plump” coffee is part of the living pace in Saigon and part of memories of the big economic hub of Vietnam’s citizens.

Ho Chi Minh City welcomed 620,000 foreign visitors in the first two months of this year, an increase of 9% over the same period last year, according to the city’s Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

This brought the city’s tourism sector a turnover of VND 7,860 billion, up 24% compared to the same period last year and achieving 16% of the target set for 2011.

Vietnamese exports are being affected by the tsunami and earthquake, which has caused great loss of lives and property in Japan.

For many years, Japan has been the third largest export market of Vietnamese garment products, especially since 2009 so many garment businesses are worried that the recent earthquake and tsunami will affect their orders.

Vietravel and Doanh Nhan Sai Gon newspaper have announced the three winners of the “Traveler’s Diary” travel writing competition.

Tran Ly Man Huy won first prize with “Jasper, a land of discovery” about traveling to a National Park in Canada; second prize went to Thien Binh for “Memory of Binh Ba”; and Huynh Thu Dung was third with “Feelings for the Ganges”.

Organisers on Sunday were still counting the money raised at Saturday’s NZ Wine and Food Festival in Saigon’s District 2 to add to US$67,000 already raised on Thursday for the Christchurch earthquake.

The total from both should be announced sometime on Monday, they said.

Ticket-vending machines installed in many HCM City buses have become popular, according to the Department of Transport.

The department along with the Sai Gon Passenger Transport Co Ltd piloted the system at the end of 2009 on 11 buses on Route 152 from Ben Thanh Market to Tan Son Nhat Airport.

My Khe Beach in Danang City, just a short plane ride from Saigon is a nine-kilometer stretch of fine white sand.

The beach is backed by poplar trees and the crystal clear Kinh River. The beach has many kinds of colorful corals.

A lot of big hotels in HCM City have been introducing their services, programs and events on their websites in order to help tour organizers consider designing MICE (meeting, incentive, convention, event) tours on demand.